Stefanos Tsitsipas wants to "finish the season in the top 3", says he was "too passive" against Rafael Nadal in Barcelona final

Stefanos Tsitsipas recently talked at length about his goals for 2021, especially with respect to his ranking. Tsitsipas stressed that he is keen to end the season in the top three of the ATP charts.

The Greek also assessed his performance against Rafael Nadal in the Barcelona Open final, which he lost in three close sets.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is currently preparing for the Mutua Madrid Open, where he is seeded fourth. Speaking to the media ahead of his campaign in the Spanish capital, the 22-year-old declared that he has his eyes set on the No. 4 ranking spot, which Dominic Thiem currently occupies.

Tsitsipas believes he has a good chance of collecting a bunch of points during the ongoing clay swing, which in turn would help him in his overall ranking goals.

"I feel like I'm getting closer and that I'm creating opportunities to get closer to being number 4," Stefanos Tsitsipas said. "I'm not going to lie, it's certainly something I have on my mind. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, mainly because I am working so hard to achieve it. Of course, I'm still far away. I have to keep working and producing good tennis."

"All these upcoming tournaments are very important because they mean a lot of points," the Greek added. "Right now I am at the head of the Turin Race, and that is something very important to me. I want to keep that and finish the season in the top three, that's another of my goals this year."

Going on to speak about his Barcelona Open final against Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed that he could have been better off if he had taken more risks. The 22-year-ld believes he played too 'passive' in the match, which ended up costing him.

Stefanos Tsitsipas during his Barcelona Open final against Nadal

"Probably the final helped me to realize that I have to go for more at certain moments of the games, and not settle or wait for opportunities to come to me," Tsitsipas said. "Sometimes I feel that in that final I was too passive and that I could have risked more. I could have tried to do more unpredictable things that could have led to something different in the game."

My goal at the Madrid Open is to get as close as possible to what I achieved in 2019: Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas with the runner-up at the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open, alongside champion Novak Djokovic

Stefanos Tsitsipas finished as the runner-up at the 2019 Madrid Masters. He defeated Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal en route to the title round, where he came up short against Novak Djokovic.

That run was Tsitsipas' best result at a claycourt Masters event until Monte Carlo this year, where the Greek finished as the champion. During his presser, Tsitsipas made it clear that he harbors similar ambitions from the current edition of the Madrid Masters.

"I'm not going to lie, my goal is to get as close as possible to what I achieved in 2019, when I was a finalist here," Tsitsipas said. "I am very excited this week and for the weeks to come in general."

Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he still needs to fine-tune certain elements of his game, especially his serve and volleys. The 22-year-old aims to be a lot more consistent with his delivery, with a high first-serve percentage, and he would also like to win more points at the net.

"Of course I have to keep improving things," Tsitsipas said. "I would like to be more consistent with my serve and play with a higher percentage of first serves. I would also like to see myself reaching the net more and expanding my percentage of points earned there."